I am going to post my best guess some 19 hours before the 2 p.m. (3 p.m. EST) Chicago Bears news conference. It is based on my gut feelings, events of the past 24 hours, as well as other blogs and pundits I trust.
It is NOT what I wish will happen. That's easy: Lovie Smith SHOULD be fired.
Unfortunately, it is not going to be that easy or that clean.
Look at everything that has happened since the Bears ended the season by beating up on the hapless Detroit Lions:
• Bears records were set by Jay Cutler and special teams setting up, after the second consecutive meaningless win, an argument for an improvement in team performance.
• Bears players began to openly discuss what the absence of Brian Urlacher meant to the team.
• It was revealed that Matt Forte's spotty performance was due to a strained ACL/MCL.
• The team apologized to fans in two newspaper ads.
• Players began to openly, almost belligerently, back Lovie's return.
And keep in mind Jerry Angelo's comments last week about his "nucleus of young talent" on the team...
A well-orchestrated script is being cobbled together for the big show Tuesday. I think it will be delivered by Bears President Ted Phillips and look - or sound - a little something like this:
This was a tough year for Bears fans, players and owners. And we know we need an immediate turn-around. We think we made some good moves going into this season with Jay Cutler and younger players like Johnny Knox and Devin Aromashodu. But we made missteps, too. Lovie tried to be his own defensive coordinator. Our offensive plans were not focused which impacted the play of young players. Not every veteran measured up, especially on the offensive line.
Added to this were season-long injuries to the heart of our team like to Brian Urlacher and Matt Forte. Other players who filled in were also hurt and this exacerbated a bad situation.
In short, despite great anticipations, our luck in 2009 was made up of three kinds: bad, little and no.
We must field a team in 2010 that will make this city and Chicago Bears fans around the world proud. We want to be competitive in every game. We want to win the Super Bowl. These are the core goals of the Chicago Bears.
Sometimes bad luck just happens, as in the case of Brian Urlacher. But many times, experience has shown, you can control fate or luck if only you put yourself in the best possible situation. We did not do that enough in the past year.
Beginning right now, it is important for the entire Bears organization to understand that we will do whatever it takes to win the Super Bowl next year in Dallas. To this end, no position from the front office to the field will escape scrutiny.
In the front office, we believe Lovie Smith has many of the right attributes to be a successful head coach. It was just three years ago that we anticipated our first return to the Super Bowl in 20 years under his leadership. Unfortunately, Lovie did not exhibit his best attributes this past year. We met with Lovie yesterday and he agreed to stay on as head coach for the next season under these conditions:
• He will work with management to replace the offensive and defensive coordinators. We have also eliminated the "Assistant Head Coach" position. We need to find the best coaching minds out there; we are not interested in those who merely subscribe to current philosophies. Our team will only win when we build philosophies to match the players we have in the organization and not the other way around. All other coaching positions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
• Lovie will work with the GM and scouts to create an improved, shared view of player assessment. There simply has to be more cohesion. There is no attempt to have a group coach of the Bears, but the coach cannot usurp the GM and scouts' roles, either. We need to attract the best athletes and then put them in the best positions to win.
• Players – and coaches – need to be evaluated week to week in practice to ensure we are fielding the best team possible. There are too many occasions in the past season of veteran players resting instead of practicing while new talent languished. Worse, this pattern clearly lead to our team simply being "unprepared," to use Lovie's term, for games. Chicago Bears players need to show up each day prepared to work hard. Otherwise, we will find new players who understand our Bear tradition.
That said, management needs to do a better job of evaluating our team and holding every person in the organization accountable. Jerry Angelo has also agreed to new working circumstances and has stepped up to shoulder his share of the burden for the past season.
In order to have him better focused on the many pressing tasks, his job has been divided and joining him in the GM role is Patrick McCaskey who will serve as a direct liaison to Virginia McCaskey who sets the tone and the vision of the Bears franchise. Patrick's role will be to maintain the big-picture duties of GM while Jerry can continue to focus on the many day-to-day needs.
This is not the complete road map to Dallas but it is the start of the plan. We believe we have many great players already in place. We trust the coaching skills of Lovie Smith. We know we have the best fans on the planet. We appreciate the understanding of our fans and share the anguish and outrage for what felt to almost everyone as a wasted opportunity.
Great teams learn from their mistakes and persevere. We are a great team and the 2010-11 season will be among our best and that pledge comes right from the top.
As we said Monday in our newspaper ad, "winning is, and will always be, our top priority and we will not rest until we bring a championship back to Chicago."
That's my view. What do you think will happen Tuesday? Post or send me an e-mail at marksweetwood@aol.com or Tweet me at SOBEDITOR On Twitter
More later,
Mark
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